A Work-Fun Model of Consumer Behavior: Explaining When Consumers Buy on Impulse

A study was conducted that implemented a computer-based research vehicle to capture microscopic aspects of shopping and to permit a moment-by-moment analysis of consumer-environment interactions. Participants shopped in a virtual grocery store with a fixed budget. Analysis of shopping behaviour revealed a significant relationship between the time spent in the store, the shopping path taken, and the number of unplanned purchases made. Temporal analysis indicated that unplanned purchases were very unlikely during the first 25% of the time spent in the store, but became very likely during the last 25% of in-store time. This relationship is characterized as a “work-fun model of shopping behaviour”. Decision time was shown to increase steadily throughout the shopping trip; affective product features had a greater impact on difficult choices during the latter part of the shopping trip. The results fit with expectations derived from self-control theories and suggest an extension of the traditional exposure theory of in-store decision making.